Punishment phase continues in triple beheading trial

The punishment phase continues for John Allen Rubio, 23, convicted in the beheading deaths of three young children killed in Brownsville, Oct. 21, 2003.

The punishment phase continues for John Allen Rubio, 23, convicted in the beheading deaths of three young children killed in Brownsville, Oct. 21, 2003.

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The punishment phase continues for John Allen Rubio, 23, convicted in the beheading deaths of three young children killed in Brownsville, Oct. 21, 2003.

The punishment phase continues for John Allen Rubio, 23, convicted in the beheading deaths of three young children killed in Brownsville, Oct. 21, 2003.

Punishment phase continues in triple beheading trial

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EDINBURG ? A day after taking only a few hours to agree John Allen Rubio's 2003 slaying and decapitation of three young children could not be blamed on insanity, a Hidalgo County jury Tuesday continued hearing arguments whether he should be spared the death penalty.

The jury was the second to convict Rubio, 29, of four counts of capital murder, one for each of the three children and a fourth under a state law provision for an additional charge for multiple murders ?in the same transaction.?

The trial is being held in Hidalgo County rather than Cameron County, where the murders took place, on a change of venue request from the defense.

Rubio's attorneys during two weeks of testimony tried to prove he suffered a form of paranoid schizophrenia that escalated into delusions the children were possessed by demons, with one of them taken over by a dead grandmother who'd practiced witchcraft.

Rubio from the start admitted to the killing spree and at the conclusion of the initial trial pleaded for the death penalty.

He was taken off death row when an appeals court ruled prosecutors had improperly used statements from Angela Camacho, who was his common-law wife and took part in the killings.

Camacho, 30, now is serving three life sentences for the murders. She was the mother of all three victims; Rubio was the father of Mary Jane, the youngest.

Prosecutors started the punishment phase warning the jury the defense would try to save Rubio by blaming ?the system.?

They began the punishment phase with law enforcement witnesses, including one who had arrested Rubio prior to the murders as a misdemeanor drug user and another who'd responded to a domestic violence call.

Texas Ranger Rolando Castaneda recalled going to the county jail for blood, hair, and saliva samples from Rubio a few days after the murders.

He said he was shocked to find Rubio smiling and laughing. He said he had seen nothing like it in 32 years of law enforcement.

?There was no indication of remorse,? he said. ?I guess I never thought that parents could be so mean to their kids,? he said.